Finding Time to Lead

Finding Time to Lead

Seven Practices to Unleash Outrageous Potential

by Leslie Peters

"Finding Time to Lead compels us to explore the intersection of what it means to be a leader and to be human.

Leslie Peters brings a no bullshit, straight-talk perspective to the unique responsibility of leadership - with compelling real-life stories and a clear pathway to guide the very human leader inside us all."

See for Yourself

Shifts and Practices

Shifts and Practices

Leadership is not something you do; it’s someone you are.

Leadership is happening all the time! It’s not something we have to make time to do, it’s inherent in how we show up which makes it critical that we make choices that enable us to show up as our best self as often as possible.

While the book was written for CEOs, it’s applicable to people at every level of an organization and to entrepreneurs.

Great leaders make three shifts

From doing to being

From knowing to understanding

From reacting to responding.

These aren’t really shifts, they’re expansions. It’s like shifting the lens from taking a regular picture to taking a picture with the panoramic view – there are more possibilities and choices when you consider doing and being, knowing and understanding and reacting and responding.

Finding Time to Lead explores seven practices that support these shifts.

DOING → BEING

1. EMBARK

Great leadership is a journey, not a destination and all journeys require that we embark.

The tools for EMBARK are about making the choice to embark on the journey, asking yourself “Who do I want to be right now?” and listening on three levels.

2. EXPLORE

Exploring our personal story is the beginning of this journey because our personal stories influence how we show up.

The tools for EXPLORE are about knowing our story, avoiding being perfectly ourselves and inviting accountability.

knowing → understanding

3. EXPAND

Expanding our brains help us to think clearly, move into uncertainty with confidence and create space for possibility, even in the face of conflicting points of view.

The tools for EXPAND are: take a breath and count to ten, embrace disequilibrium, and hold the tension of opposites and ask “what if?”.

4. ENGAGE

Leadership is a team sport. Leaders don’t control information, they provide opportunities for others to engage with information to make sense of it for themselves.

The tools for ENGAGE are about leading for commitment, seeking to understand and supporting the counter-narrative.

REACTING → RESPONDING

5. ENCOURAGE

As a leader, you’re not just on your own hero’s journey, you’re the mentor to others who are on their own journey.

The tools for ENCOURAGE are about being the mentor, finding your “come from place,” and telling the truth.

6. EVOLVE

Reflecting on our experiences and circumstances and paying attention to the ways we’re being called to grow and change enables us to show up in new ways.

7. EXTEND

The true foundation for leadership is the will to extend ourselves – past our limitations, around our stories, beyond our self-interest, through our closed minds and into the space where we can offer the kind of love that connects us as humans.

The tools for EXTEND are to take it all in, believe in yourself and do the work.

What People Are Saying

Praise for Finding Time to Lead

What People Are Saying

Praise for Finding Time to Lead

“I would put Finding Time to Lead in the echelon of other great books about leadership like From Good to Great. It provides a framework for demonstrating leadership that inspires others and helps to elicit the best from me and those around me.”

“Time is the currency of leadership… Finding Time to Lead is how to wisely spend that currency. Aspiring and experienced leaders will benefit from the real life examples and practical tools.

“Sharing excellent examples from clients as well as her own stories, this author is like a smart, warm close friend who happens to be awesome at helping you reclaim your leadership mojo AND who knows without a doubt that you can do it.”

“Leslie Peters has put together a quintessential ‘must-have’ guide for executives who are either new to the position or hoping to improve their companies through more effective leadership.”

“No psychobabble, no gimmicks – just a straight-talk rocket to strap to your back as you lead.”

“I just read this (it took only a couple of hours on a business trip flight). I’d highly recommend it. Practical and powerful concepts to ensure everyone within an organization is performing and in alignment with strategy. It’s a very different kind of business book. Quick, readable and well worth your time.”

“Finding Time to Lead is both easy to read and deeply thought-provoking. The voice is elegant, direct and simple, like a wise friend whispering advice in your ear and telling you to breathe at those most difficult moments in the work when you really need to hear it.”

“Often books that are intended to assist and guide us to grow personally and professionally are full of elaborate plans that only succeed in adding to an already full plate. … Finding Time to Lead is the exact opposite. Chapter One, and every chapter thereafter, left me with an immediately applicable framework for expanding my skills and success as a leader of a small company.”

“I want to start off by saying that I am not an avid reader, unless the material is IT related. This book captured my attention from the first paragraph and I read the whole book in just over an hour. I took more time and contemplated the pieces, especially pertaining to listening. I found myself stopping throughout the book and examining how I lead and conduct myself. Very thought-provoking!”

“Well written with some funny moments thrown in, this book was a delight to read and I’ll be using these tools in my own business.”

“The advice and tips in this book are so practical, so clear. This is talking about the real life, nitty-gritty of leadership and not some fanciful “way it should be.”

“I definitely recommend this book for anyone looking to improve their relationships with people and time.”

“This book is outstanding. Although targeting the CEO, the advice and guidance are really applicable to all leaders and potential leaders at every level of an organization.”

“One comes away from this book not necessarily with ‘answers’ but more importantly with strategies on how to get to answers, because the questions are always changing and knowing how to consider them is often that hardest part of the battle.”

“Finding Time to Lead is a book I will come back to again and again, whenever I feel stuck and need a fresh perspective.”